Communicative Grammar Teaching

Jenny Selvidge

US Embassy Tokyo

August 1, 2020

This webinar will help you consider ways to use more communicative approaches to grammar teaching that balance

input and output.

Participants will:

1. reflect upon the meaning of a “communicative classroom” 2. understand the balance between input and output3. analyze lesson plans that use the communicative approach4. gather ideas and resources to use in their classes

Today’s Topics

• the definition of a “communicative classroom”

• the balance between input and output (theory)

• two lessons plans that balance input and output

• activity ideas / grammar resources

Discussion Question:What is a communicative classroom?

Please share your thoughts in the chatbox.

In a communicative classroom, students:

- learn language by using it rather than by only being told about it.

Teachers as Facilitators

Instead of teaching about language, teachers become facilitatorsof language learning and acquisition.

Input alone will not produce language fluency in productive skills.(Brown & Larsen-Hall, 2012)

*Mindset shift regarding the role of the teacher.

Today’s Topics

• the definition of a “communicative classroom”

• the balance between input and output (theory)

• two lessons plans that balance input and output

• activity ideas / grammar resources

balancing input vs. output

output - productive skills • speaking

• writing

input - receptive skills • reading

• listening

Participant Poll

What are the top two challenges of balancing input/output in your class?

lesson planning: input and output

1. exploring a topic

2. focusing on language

3. responding to the topic

4. producing language (practice, practice, practice)

4 strands of a language classroom (Nation, 2007)

3. meaning-focused output

4. fluency activities

1. meaning—focused input

2. language-focused learning

*4 strands should be given roughly equal time in a class

the 4 strands in lesson planning

1. meaning-focused input exploring a topic

2. language-focused learning explicit language instruction

3. meaning-focused output responding to the topic

4. fluency activities producing language, “getting good at it”(Nation, 2007)

Today’s Topics

• the definition of a “communicative classroom”

• the balance between input and output (theory)

• two lessons plans that balance input and output

• activity ideas / grammar resources

Sample Lesson 1

Audience: Beginners

Goal: to identify household objects using there is/there are

1. Teacher shows picture of a living room and asks students what they see.

2. Teacher writes sample sentences on the board and explains the singular/plural difference.

input

outp

ut

(adapted from Lemaich, 2019)

Let’s use objects that are in our classroom as examples:

There is a teacher.There are many students.There is a projector.There is a laptop.There are five windows.There are many drawings.There is an ALT.

Let’s use objects that are in our classroom as examples:

There is a teacher.There are many students.There is a projector.There is a laptop.There are five windows.There are many drawings.There is an ALT.

Sample Lesson 1

Audience: Beginners

Goal: to identify household objects using there is/there are

1. Teacher shows picture of a living room and asks students what they see.

2. Teacher writes sample sentences on the board and explains the singular/plural difference.

3. Students brainstorm a vocabulary list of items from their own living room and write sentences.

4. Students practice sentences using there is / there are:

input

outp

ut

(adapted from Lemaich, 2019)

Sample Lesson 1

Audience: Beginners

Goal: to identify household objects using there is/there are

1. Teacher shows picture of a living room and asks students what they see.

2. Teacher writes sample sentences on the board and explains the singular/plural difference.

3. Students brainstorm a vocabulary list of items from their own living room and write sentences.

4. Students practice sentences using there is / there are:

inp

ut

outp

ut

(adapted from Lemaich, 2019)

Sample Lesson 1

Audience: Beginners

Goal: to identify household objects using there is/there are

1. Teacher shows picture of a living room and asks students what they see.

2. Teacher writes sample sentences on the board and explains the singular/plural difference.

3. Students brainstorm a vocabulary list of items from their own living room and write sentences.

4. Students practice sentences using there is / there are:

•Gallery Walk

•padlet

input

outp

ut

(adapted from Lemaich, 2019)

Gallery Walk

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

- can be done in a classroom if there’s space

- can be done in the hallway

- students have a task to do while looking at student work

padlet.com – collaborative writing space

Sample Lesson 2

Audience: Intermediate/Adv.

Goal: to describe life experiences using the present perfect and simple past

1. Teacher reads dialogue between two people.

2. Teacher analyzes text with students to identify target grammar. Discusses difference between present perfect and simple past.

3. Students create sentences of things they have done.

4. Students get in groups of three to state a claim (only one person wrote it). The rest of the class asks questions to determine who is telling the truth.

input

ou

tpu

t

(adapted from Lemaich, 2019)

Sample Lesson 2

Audience: Intermediate/Adv.

Goal: to describe life experiences using the present perfect and simple past

1. Teacher reads dialogue between two people.

2. Teacher analyzes text with students to identify target grammar. Discusses difference between present perfect and simple past.

3. Students create sentences of things they have done.

4. Students get in groups of three to state a claim (only one person wrote it). The rest of the class asks questions to determine who is telling the truth.

input

outp

ut

(adapted from Lemaich, 2019)

Sample Lesson 2

Audience: Intermediate/Adv.

Goal: to describe life experiences using the present perfect and simple past

1. Teacher reads dialogue between two people.

2. Teacher analyzes text with students to identify target grammar. Discusses difference between present perfect and simple past.

3. Students create sentences of things they have done.

4. Students get in groups of three to state a claim (only one person wrote it). The rest of the class asks questions to determine who is telling the truth.

inp

ut

outp

ut

(adapted from Lemaich, 2019)

1. Meaning-focused Input: Dialogue

Hiroko: Hey, Fumika! You and your family have traveled a lot, right?

Fumika: Oh, yeah. We love to travel! My favorite place to visit was Australia. We saw wild kangaroos and visited the Sydney Opera House. So beautiful!

Hiroko: Have you had many outdoor adventures?

Fumika: Some! I’ve been scuba diving, rock-climbing, and water skiing. I went snow skiing in Hokkaido last year, and that was amazing!

Hiroko: What’s still on your travel list?

Fumika: I’ve never been to Africa or South America. I’ve also never seen the desert, so that’s on my list, too.

Goal: comprehension of the topic / build student interest

2. Language-focused learning: focus on form

Hiroko: Hey, Fumika! You and your family have traveled a lot, right?

Fumika: Oh, yeah. We love to travel! My favorite place to visit was Australia. We saw wild kangaroos and visited the Sydney Opera House. So beautiful!

Hiroko: Have you had many outdoor adventures?

Fumika: Some! I’ve been scuba diving, rock-climbing, and water skiing. I went snow skiing in Hokkaido last year, and that was amazing!

Hiroko: What’s still on your travel list?

Fumika: I’ve never been to Africa or South America. I’ve also never seen the desert, so that’s on my list, too.

Goal: to process the form and function of the present perfect/simple past

Present perfect:“started in the past, continues to the present, unfinished (may cont. to future)”

form: have/has + past participle

You and your family have traveled a lot, right?

Simple past:“started and ended in the past, finished / specific time”

form: +ed ending / irregular endings

We visited the Sydney Opera House.

You traveled in the past and will continue to travel present perfect

You went to the Opera House at a specific time in the past. It’s finished.

3. Meaning-focused output

Task:Write 5-8 sentences of things you have done (in general) and things that you have done at a specific time.

Goal: to convey meaning

4. Fluency Development

Three people will come to the front of the class. They’ll all same the same sentence, “I have ridden a camel,” but only one person is telling the truth.

Students will ask simple past questions, such as:- Where did you ride a camel?- How tall was the camel?- Did you have to take riding lessons first?- Was the camel friendly?- Were you scared?- Was there a camel guide there to help you?

Goal: to practice/feel comfortable and confident using the simple past

Today’s Topics

• the definition of a “communicative classroom”

• the balance between input and output (theory)

• lessons plans that balance input and output

• activity ideas / grammar resources

“How do my students use grammar to

communicate in real life?”

Lesson Development Questions

1. What is the target grammar?

2. How can students apply this grammar to real-life communication? Tailor to your students.

Real-world Applications

tell a story

- mini-book

- skit

- show-and-tell

explain how to do something

- give directions

- science experiment

- cook

- post on Instagram

explain how to play a game/sport

- ride a unicycle

- soccer

- sumo rules

Real-world Applications

hypotheticals- What would happen if…- design an ideal

school/city- “If I had a million

dollars…”- If I could change the

world…

advice-giving

- for tourists

- for incoming students

- for teachers

apply to college

- oral interview

- personal statement

Where do you go for ideas and resources?

(You don’t need to reinvent the wheel.)

americanenglish.state.gov

AE Live 4.6: Communicative Grammar Games for the Young Learner(Coulson, 2019)

AE Live 4.6: Communicative Grammar Games for the Young Learner(Coulson, 2019)

1. Brainstorm list of adjectives.

2. Teach question form and Yes/No answer form

3. Students write down list of questions.

4. Game 1

Build your network of support

Recap: Four Steps to Lesson Planning

1. Introduce/explore a topic

2. Focus on target language

3. Students personalize the topic

4. Students practice, practice, practice

References

• Brown, S., & Larson-Hall, J. (2012). Second language acquisition myths: Applying second language research to classroom teaching. University of Michigan Press ELT.

• Coulson, W. (2019, March 22). American English. Retrieved from American English Webinars: https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/american-english-webinars#child-2505

• Lemaich, S. (2019, March 6). American English. Retrieved July 2020, from American English Webinars: https://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/american-english-webinars#child-2504

• Nation, P. (2007). The four strands. International Journal of Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 1(1), 2-13.

Questions?